Innholdsfortegnelse for January 1984 i Hawaii Fishing News

JANUARY ■ This year, as every year, the season begins with the start of the Hawaii Big Game Club Four Flags Tournament. This is a members-only, all-year tournament that offers HBGFC members the opportunity to compete, outside formal tournament conditions, against other club memtiers, for the largest fish tn each of the four “flag fish” species (marlin, mahimahi. ahi and ono) in 20-. 30-, 50-. 80- and 130-pound test classes. Entry tee may be paid when club dues are paid. Fish must be weighed on a certified scale, and the weight certificate must be turned in immediately to qualify. Prizes are awarded at the annual HBGFC Awards bash in November. FEBRUARY The first long weekend ot the year brings with it the first formal tournament of the year, the Hawaii…

Christmas Island has a new attraction—unexplored, untouched reefs for diving! Those of you who have been to Christmas Island to fish will know I do not jest when I say that you can count on swimming in schools of ulua ranging from 20 to 80 lbs with an occasional 120-pounder thrown in. When I say schools, I mean schools, not just six or seven fish. Also sharing the reefs are large groupers, manta rays, barracuda, red snappers, turtles, multitudes of aquarium fish and an occasional shark. Christmas Island claims more than 100 miles of coastline, and most of the reefs have never been explored by a diver. Diving is possible year-round, though some spots become murky with the onset of winter swells. Water temperature ranges from 75° to 85° so…

■ Our Kane‘ohe boats that participated in the Lahaina Jackpot Tournament were welcomed home on November 1. All the boats were greeted at He‘eia Kea Pier with a rain of water balloons by a group of well wishers. The EKENA ELUA, captained by Lee Gonsalves and crewed by Ron Sato and Danny Kadowaki, came home with two marlin, one at 280 pounds and the other at 380 pounds, plus an assortment of shibiko and aku. Congratulations! the NANRICH with Capt. Ricky Miyahira and crew of daughter, Melanie, Alan Mau and Ray Dela Cruz came home with a marlin and an ono. Capt. Darryl Otaguro along with Elbert Fraticelli, Keith Pang and Dennis Tsutsumi on the KAREN K came home with their mahimahi flag flying high. The JUDY C also came…

■ Winter seems to have come a little early this year. It gets downright chilly if you hit the lake early. I don’t know if the cold nights had any bearing on it, but recently there was a couple of shad die-offs. It couldn’t have been a lack of oxygen because that has been closely monitored and we are in good shape down to 12 feet. The worrisome thing about a shad kill is that it usually occurs preceding a game fish kill. Our biologist is keeping watch, but this has him baffled. Whatever is happening to the water must also be affecting the bass and cats. While there were reports of a few big cats hooked and lost, the bass fishing was extra slow. What few were caught were…

■ A subscriber from Canada’s Northwest Territories called to ask for advice on selecting trolling rods for big game fishing. He wants to match a set of Penn International 50s, 80s, and 130s. (Presumably, he’s not trying to outclass a North Pacific salmon or a Canadian muskelunge since he claims an annual foray to Kona.) Some of his concerns were a bit detailed (custom versus “off-the-rack” rods, single or double roller guides, etc.), but his main worry was that he didn’t want to buy a bunch of garbage he’d regret forever. Intriguingly, the caller’s name was “Le Pecher;” if my high-school French serves me correctly, this gentleman qualifies as a fisherman from birth. Here’s the advice of an Italian in Hawai‘i to a Frenchman in Canada. 1. Matching rods to…

■ Marlin, marlin everywhere! Fishermen have been reporting many multiple strikes of small stripes, sailfish and spearfish plus blues up to 300 pounds! Although scientists often say that billfish do not congregate in dense schools like tuna will, many Wai‘anae anglers will vouch for the fact that they certainly have been found in large quantities lately. Alex Toki’s 24-foot Jackpot, the snappy green and white MILA T., is often seen on the Wai‘anae highway heading to or from the harbor. Alex is a commercial fisherman from Pearl City and usually fishes five days a week. With his crew, Jimmy and John Tomei, Stan Suzuki, Eric Wakamatsu and Bob Texeira, Alex put in three pretty fantastic days of fishing towards the end of November. On the 24th, the men had over…

■ One of the great thrills of fishing is contained in the strike. With top water lures you can see the fish charge the bait. You are a spectator to all the action because every decent pass a fish makes is registered on the surface of the water. The large red snapper, the peacock grouper, the Pacific mackerel (lai), the rainbow runner and the giant trevally (ulua) populate the coral reefs of the South Pacific. The barracuda and the bluefin trevally (‘omilu) will leap out of the water enroute to the lure. The Pacific houndfish dances over the water toward the lure and cavorts like a tarpon when hooked. All these fish come to the surface to feed making top water spinning an exciting challenge. The island of Yap lies…

■ Every year, there are a large and varied number of fishing tournaments for the local fisherman to choose from. These events are organized with attractive and lucrative prizes for those lucky enough to finish in the top few places, but prizes nonetheless that are based on an anticipated number of entries. It would be difficult for these tournaments to carry on successfully year to year, without the support and participation of the small boat owners and crew, who make up a large part of the entries. Small boats have retained a respectable record in these events, but I feel that their role has not been given the respect and publicity deserved. The television coverage of the Lahaina Jackpot Tournament by “Let’s Go Fishing” included interviews of a number of…

■ Aloha from the Friendly Isle of Moloka‘i. With all the nice weather we have been experiencing recently, it seems like everyone has been catching fish lately, both inshore and offshore. Walter Rawlins of the MISS KELLY reported scoring two marlin on consecutive trips. The larger fish went 375 pounds, and the smaller one was between one and two hundred. Off the east of Moloka‘i, Mervin Dudoit on his 26-foot Radon, MANAE II, did something he’s done only once before—he went trolling! (Mervin usually sticks to diving.) The MANAE II teamed up with a boat captained by Eddie Tanaka, with Mike Dudoit and Blue along as crew. The two boats hit the N buoy off Halawa Valley, and Eddie promptly hooked and landed the first fish of the day, a…

■ November was a big month for ono, striped marlin and Capt. Russell Tanaka’s MARY I. Early in the month Russell had several triple catches of half dozen ono, mahimahi and small ahi. The banks were where all that action was happening so we’ll have to assume that’s where he got lucky too. This captain maintains much radio silence out there and just comes in each day with his “average” load. When I spoke with Mike DeRego he said Russell had just come in the day before with eight striped marlin and had about 40 other strikes that day. I figured that to be something of a record for a one-day catch, but then Mike told me one of Wai‘anae’s “mosquito” boats had gotten eleven!! The fish were all in…